Tuesday, January 08, 2008


Purple by any other name...


would still be violet, lavender, lilac, plum...purple. I finished the highly ripped quilt, yesterday. After breaking two needles and ripping out countless miles of thread. I'm not complaining, just stating fact. My mom peiced this quilt- she is the consumate scrappy-quilter. My Dad has a thing for purple. My Mom, not so much. When I showed her a picture of the finished quilt, she says, "...I don't rememeber it being so purple." I promise, I never, ever, change the color of a quilt once it is handed over to me. Giggle. Well, she mixed lots of navy blue with it. I think that is an unusual combination, but it works. I thought if I showed a rather darker picture of it, she would be more peaceful about the whole purple thing. I think she is planning on giving it to my sis-in-law, anyway, so it won't be living in her house. My Mom and Dad live in a barn. I love it when people ask, "What? Were you born in a barn?" I could say, "Very nearly." But the barn is kinda dark- few windows and hey, they live in West Virginia- it's dark there. This may explain her surprise about the actual color of the quilt! My Dh bought her an Ott light, but one little pool of light hardly allows one to see the entire project.
My Mom loves to peice quilts. I try to keep her supplied in fabrics because she doesn't have anywhere to acquire them, herself. They really live in the sticks. Every so often, I get a installment of tops which I am supposed to quilt for her... She is ever so patient. Never complains. But it takes me a good long while to get to them. And usually it is something like... Oh, here's Mom's quilts. I should quilt one. OK, let's see what we have here. There's a big rubbermaid tub full of tops. So I shuffle through the tops, finding one especially inspiring. Oh, man! No backing for this one! No prob, put it back in the tub, and choose another. Oh, man! No thread to match! And by now, I have lost my inspiration. I got to get better about that! So I was determined to get a quilt done. And then, what always happens with her quilts- problems. Problems with design, thread, tension of said thread... mostly, operator error. I told my Mom maybe they were cursed. She says, so sweetly, well, you're not worried about it, are you? Well, yeah, kinda, I don't want you to go, ew! when you see them! "I would never go ew! and I'd just say, Wonderful! it's done!" Isn't she sweet?
So, this one is done. And no sooner had I said that to her, she says, "Can I come and eat Chinese with you, tomorrow?" duh, yeah! They live about 6 hours away, so it's a real treat to get a visit. This little warm break is just the thing to get my Dad away from the barn. I should be cleaning the house... but Dh Bill says, then what will your Mom do? Sit on the couch and relax, I suggest. He rolls his eyes. It could happen.

6 comments:

Chrissie said...

I love the scrappy purple! Your mom does wonderful work - and so do you! Have a wonderful day with your mom and God bless you!
Chrissie

Darcie said...

Hurray...I needed me some Nines!!! LOVE your quilting!!!

And purple is working pretty well with me today too! Gorgeous. And I rather like your Mom's addition of the blues.

What a fun surprise! You all have a wonderful visit. They are staying longer that just lunch, aren't they?!?

Many hugs....

Elaine Adair said...

Yes, it IS purple but just lovely. The mix of dark values gives it depth. Very Pretty.

And I also, was "brought up in a barn!". It was much more fun to be playing amongst the animals, hay bales, horses, new kittens, lambs, etc., then inside a stuffy old farm house, where Mom was likely to get after me for something ... 8-)

Thanks for the photo.

Susan said...

The quilt is beautiful. Love the paisley quilting I can see in the purple border!

atet said...

Your Mom does wonderful work -- and like you, I'd like to have some point where my mother could come to my home and just sit on the couch. So far -- no luck!

Shelina said...

Purple is a beautiful color, and scrap quilts are the way to go. This one is wonderful. Maybe you can make a deal with your mother - that she will come to visit you to pick up every time you finish a quilt of hers.